Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Schmitten Part One: 'The flow of energy was so fine'*

So – a diversion from Opinion8 and the Kinks. Let’s go on
the road, tune into FM radio …Links in the song titles as usual.

Watching History of the Eagles documentaries on BBC2 has
made me rethink some of my previous opinions.

[These are practically the only programmes I’ve watched on
the BBC this year, with the exception of the Scandinavian strand on BBC4. So
really I’m paying my licence fee to ensure that the already overpaid BBC
staffers can recommend that they all get exorbitant severance packages, over
and above those specified in their contracts, because they weren’t chosen for promotion
or they made a complete hash of the promotion they were given. £60
million in payouts. ‘It’s been a long time coming but a change is gonna come.’
Scrap the licence fee.]

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always loved the Eagles and
nothing’s changed there. I know they don’t use the definite article but I
always have and it doesn’t seem right not to. Whatever other stage I’ve gone
through in my life musically (and there’ve been some embarrassing ones),
they’ve remained the one constant. I could at any time suddenly experience a
resurgence of interest and dig out the old vinyl albums to play. They captured
the 70s for me, that laidback West Coast vibe that was a thousand miles from my
life in 80s London suburbia. In my imagination, I was there. Like Lloyd Cole, I
was crazy for Americana, had read Kerouac and Kinsey and thought the US was
impossibly romantic

I can recognise most of these songs from the first couple of
notes and seeing Joe Walsh sing Pretty Maids had me in tears. That was
unexpected. And it was a great programme – might review it later. I love Don
Henley’s quote: ‘We set out to become a band for our time but sometimes if you
do a good enough job, you become a band for all time’.

The original and I used to think the best

However, I lamented the departure of founding members Bernie
Leadon and Randy Meisner and never rated Timothy B. Schmit. I thought him a
poor substitution. I’ll leave Don Felder out for the time being – the news that
the Eagles are intending to tour again and that an ex-member is planning to
return is tantalising. I would love it to be any of these three. Just
discovered it’s Bernie. Until now, Bernie was always my favourite Eagle but
that’s because I had never appreciated TBS, never given him the time. Still, wouldn't it be brilliant if they played My Man? I live for that.

I didn’t think (then) that TBS added anything to what the
band had, dismissed his songs as sappy and sentimental and his voice as weak
and insipid. I thought he was a feather-weight thrown in with heavy-weights and
there was likely to be a smackdown. Surely the other Eagles would eat him for
breakfast? Something sweet they could spread on their toast. But I was wrong.
Not too proud to admit it. I don't know why I didn’t see it before, that what
he contributes is … ineffable, a quality of calm – all wholesome goodness, a
purity of tone, all sweetness and light. Something sensitive and touching and
beautiful. And still. It’s like the whole band whirls around him and he’s this
gentle, peaceful presence in the midst of the vortex. He doesn’t seem to get
rattled, the closest he gets is looking a little fed up in the studio, like a
child who’s been told he has to eat his greens.

He looks so happy!

First thing I learned was that he was with the Eagles before
they broke up in 1980, for three years. And he looked really cute. I’d
previously assumed that he’d only been in the 1994 reunion line-up. 1994 would
have been the first chance I had to go see the Eagles but I decided it was too
expensive (£40 a ticket). You’re laughing, right? Now it’s at least £100!

Prompted to re-explore Poco who were around three years
before the Eagles formed. I used to think of Poco as Eagles-lite, pleasant
enough but without the punch of the real thing, without the edge, a soft-focus,
diluted version but now I see them differently. There’s a clarity and a
feel-good atmosphere to most Poco songs. It’s obvious from the clips on YouTube
– wish I’d had this when I was young – then I might have known, albeit after he
left them, how incredibly pretty young Timothy was. And I would have had a way
of listening to more of their material because what Poco had/maybe still have,
or what they communicate, is a palpable joy. It’s evident in the way they play
together. That Eagles ‘In Concert’ from 1973 is similar. Makes me wish/yearn
that I could go back to that time and be the right age to go to a Poco show.
Where’s the Hot Tub Time Machine when you need it?

Assumed the name meant something in Native American but
learn that they originally chose Pogo, after some cartoon character and had to
change it because someone objected. Well, I’ll stick with my romanticised
version.

Totally gratuitous Tim pic

Ok, they weren’t roaring, they were purring. But how lovely.
Hearing them, you never doubt that they mean what they’re singing.

Now I see that he’s the perfect addition. He has that high,
delicate, pure voice, he plays bass, he writes. Ironic and a little sad that as
soon as he joins, he gets to contribute a song, have it chosen as a single and
sing the lead himself. So much for feather-weight. Poor Don Felder must have
been spitting blood.

Obviously not an alpha male (unlike Frey, Henley and Walsh),
not even obviously a male (flowing locks, softly spoken, that girlish,
apologetic-sounding talking voice), I suppose his charm and his unassuming
humility meant he wasn’t viewed as a threat. And in he came to steal the first
hit.

Although people have made fun of his laidback, easy-going
manner, he was asked to join this notoriously difficult band without playing a
note with them so how’s that for respect?

His voice doesn’t sound as strong as it sounded with Poco
(although he’s always had access to that sublime upper register), it’s as if
he’s realised that he needs to cover different ground in the Eagles.

A quick word on a couple of tracks Timothy’s been on, not
necessarily composer or lead singer but which benefit from all the
above-mentioned qualities.

This video with Tim in big headphones I now love. All that beautiful hair, that earnestness: he’s
adorable. The song I thought was tepid, trivial, unworthy of the band, I find
myself singing. He’s right – the song has space to breathe, develop; simple,
unalloyed and his voice fits it perfectly. And then there’s Don Felder’s solo …
what more need I say?

I remember a certain song very well – Rose of Cimarron, from
hearing it on pirate radio, must have been reasonably catchy. Written by Rusty
Young. But this song that I thought of as slender, slight, insubstantial even,
is so much more. Heavenly harmonies, a perfect blend of voices, a lovely
melody. And TBS’s voice has a heartbreaking sweetness and purity that takes it
to another plane.

More spot-on harmonies, another amazingly contagious,
uplifting tune. Real tenderness. Just the ohs at the beginning make my heart
flutter and when the words come in, it’s incredibly beautiful. Not so much a
wall of sound as a lace net curtain of sound. Their voices are delicately interwoven into something fine
and intricate, that lets the light through to cast filigree
shadow patterns on the wall.

Wow!

I will write more later on other outstanding Poco tracks,
such as their magnificent version of Magnolia and on some TBS solo songs, lightweight but lovely
confections, such as Something Sad.

Please forgive the devotion and zeal of the newly
converted.I've taken photos from all over so please let me know if you want a credit. Thanks to: http://eaglesonlinecentral.com

Bashful Badger was inspired to write a poem about TBS; you can read it here.